Intensification and poleward shift of subtropical western boundary currents in a warming climate

“Our analysis shows that the surface temperature of the boundary currents has increased two to three times faster than in other oceanic regions...In addition, the currents release at least 20 percent more heat than they did half a century ago, which leads to the conclusion that the temperature of the water has risen, its flow speed has increased and the currents thus transfer more water and also more heat from the tropics towards the pole.”

Hu Yang, a climate scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and co-author of the study

Observes a significant increase in sea surface temperature (SST) is observed over the mid-latitude western boundary currents (WBCs) during the past century

States, however, that the mechanism for this phenomenon remains poorly understood due to limited observations